Rains ease water supply but more needed

February rainfall has provided a needed shot in the arm for area water supplies. While the situation is improving area water managers remain concerned. The Willits area received 8.56 inches of rainfall this month with 1.72 inches on Feb. 7; 3.6 inches on Feb. 8; and 2 inches on Feb 9. More rainfall is predicted for the area later this week.

Much of the rainfall filled area creeks and rivers. The creeks and rivers were so low before the rains intensified no serious flooding was reported. Some isolated street flooding was noted in the area, along with mud and debris on the highways.

Brooktrails received the biggest boost from the storm with Lake Emily filled to capacity and Lake Ada Rose needing about 70 acre feet to fill, according to Brooktrails General Manager Denise Rose. This brings the total Brooktrails water supply to 330 acre feet. This is up from only 70 acre feet available on Jan. 14. "We are in better shape than we were before the rains, but we are not out of the woods yet. I anticipate Brooktrails will still be in the conservation mode for some time," says Rose.

Brooktrails metered water use in December 2012 was .5 acre feet per day with the water plant producing about .8 acre feet per day.

Willits has 480 acre feet of water in storage as of Feb. 10, according to Willits City Adrienne Moore. This is up from 362 acre feet as of Jan. 6 and slightly more than the city had in storage in November. The city's reservoirs hold 1,330 acre feet when filled to capacity. In December 2012 the Willits water plant produced about 1.8 acre feet per day and the metered water use was 1.52 acre feet per day.

Feb. 6 the Willits City Council met in an emergency session to extend the current state of drought emergency for another 30 days. City Engineer Tom Mannatt advised the council the city had already spent about $302,844 on emergency water projects. This included about $220,000 in current invoices and an estimate for some of the costs not yet invoiced. The new water lines were nearly complete, although some delays were expected due to the rainy conditions projected for the weekend.

Moore advised the council she was pursuing funding sources for a permanent emergency water facility expected to cost about $2 million. The city received a $250,000 grant on Monday from the California Department of Public Health and is pursuing other grant possibilities at the state and federal level. She expects to update the council at the Feb. 12 regular council meeting.

Cost and revenue projections in the city's water fund?even prior to the city's drought emergency, were strained, according to a report presented to the council by interim Finance Director Gordon Elton. A $5.6 project to upgrade the city's water plant is underway with $3 million covered by a grant and $2.6 million by an interest free loan. The project, according to figures provided by Elton, may have mushroomed to $7.2 million, leaving few reserves for the emergency drought work or to replace the Main Street water line.